Unusual visual loss in a patient with exudative macular degeneration

PURPOSE: To describe a case of marked vision loss in a patient with neovascular age-related macular degeneration after choroidal neovascular membrane (CNV) improvement and stabilization. OBSERVATIONS: An 82-year-old male presented with 20/800 vision having dropped from 20/50 three months prior. He had been undergoing active treatment for exudative macular degeneration over the past seven years, the CNV had stabilized. An extensive ophthalmic workup was performed revealing no CNV progression and no ophthalmic cause was identified for visual loss. An MRI of the brain was obtained, which showed a metastatic brain lesion in the occipital lobe, and subsequent workup determined it originated from an adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung. CONCLUSIONS: When there is unexplained visual loss in an otherwise stable patient with macular degeneration, suspicion for non-retinal related causes of visual loss could alter the morbidity and mortality for patients with systemic diseases.